56. Immortality vs. Drifting vs. In the Moonlight

[stip]

Immortality vs. Drifting vs. In the Moonlight

[PHATJ]

Immortality by a wide margin.

[Strat]

Immortality is going to win but in the moonlight is my favorite of the bunch and deserves everything in the world.

No slight against immortality. It might be my favorite PJ song on any given day (particularly any live version) but im throwing my hat in with In the Moonlight because its so darn good.
Also, i love drifting. Ive turned to that song (the xmas single version) to feel mopey and definitely quoted that song over the years feeling bad for myself.

[Farmer John]

I also feel like throwing a vote In the Moonlight's way.

[JuanHamm]

It will be sad if Driftin' doesn't get a single vote.

[epilogue]

Immorality is the best song here and should win but I'm really angry at Stip for these "random" matchups so I'm going with In The Moonlight

[Leatherhead]

Hate to vote against In the Moonlight. But Immortality it is.

[CitizenDick]

Immortality is pretty iconic to me. Easy choice this round.

[Kevin Davis]

The only other song that may define Pearl Jam more than In the Moonlight is Corduroy. This is one of their masterpieces, one of the greatest songs in the history of rock music. From the amazing opening riff to the guitar solo at the end (my favorite of all time) In the Moonlight is a tour de force. The vocals are amazing: vulnerable, wounded, angry, and defiant. The embodiment of Binaural and what was best about that era. It is a truly epic song, the likes of which they haven't written since Given To Fly, and will likely never write again.

It's impossible for me to talk about In the Moonlight without talking about what separated Pearl Jam from the other bands of the time. Nirvana, AIC, Soundgarden, and the Pumpkins were all titanic bands with amazing talent, and all five of the grunge standard bearers were trying to deal with the same basic issues of the time---namely being followed by nightbirds. The music of the early 90's was written for the children of the children of the 60'ss and early 70's. The first great wave of rock music from that period was music that at its heart wanted to be transformative. It wanted to right the nightbird and nightbird adjacent wrongs of the world and serve as a source of inspiration and emotional strength for the people who were going to do it. Then they grew up and gave the country 12 years of Regan and Bush, and then 8 years of Clinton. Instead of idealism you had a vacuous hedonism and a glorification of greed. The next generation of children, growing up in that aftermath, came of age in the shadow of the failure of their parent's revolution, and the further predations of the aforementioned nightbirds. They felt cheated somehow. There was a sense that a great promise had been lost, and people had no idea where it went or what could and should come next. This was the mindset that animated at least the more thoughtful members of gen X. All the great grunge bands spoke to that experience. All were in some way an attempt to deal with that feeling of gettin why they ought to get back. The problem is that most of the music was nihilistic and either wallowed in or celebrated its pain.

Pearl Jam was really the only band to try and rise above it, and what made the early records so magnificent was that they expressed so powerfully not only the rage, anger, fear, and insecurity, but that almost all the songs had a moment of a love draw nearer. For Pearl jam that way out was through a celebration of two things music and community. The early records had no idea about what to do. They couldn't find the way out. There was no moonlight for them to be in---but there was a palpable belief that a way out was possible, and that it was something we could find together. You can find this idea explicitly stated in, surprisingly enough, two songs that didn't make Binaural--the Lost Dogs version of Sweet Lew

Power high, power low
You can take 'em all to school

And that version of Sweet Lew that Jeff sings on

Little did I know, a loose screw
But you had your own shoe


And that idea is what animates the best pearl jam songs, and it is what makes the concerts so amazing. The fist pumping yeahs that happen at the end of In the Moonlight during a show are a great example of that. They are almost always the highlight of the show for me, and they are because of the tangible sense of power and unity that they are a manifestation of, and the way they scare away those pesky nightbirds.

And at this point I'll end the detour and go back to Int he Moonlight. While there may be lines from other songs that embody the positive spirit that animates the early records, no song encompasses the meaning of grunge music (at least as I laid it out above) better than Int he Moonlight.

In the Moonlight, like all of Binaural, is a song about things that follow you at night. What makes In the Moonlight so powerful is that the betrayal comes from the most intimate and fundamental of sources, birds. The details of the song I don't think are that important. In the Moonlight is about coming to grips with the bedrock foundations of your universe being called into question, about the most personal and intense violation one can imagine, the betrayal of what matters most by the birds who matter most, and then having them follow you in the dark. But unlike the other grunge standard bearers, there is that moment of moonlight that we are in. It's quiet, and it's guarded, but it's there. The chorus is just three simple words repeated over and over again, but they are repeated with such tenacity, conviction, and coiled power that a simple statement of fact becomes a statement of purpose. It's a love draw nearer, and as long as it is, no matter what happens, the nightbirds can't hurt me.

That's the spirit that drives Pearl Jam's music at its best and it was the spirit that made Pearl Jam the biggest and most important band of the time. And in that sense that In the Moonlight can be considered dated. If you were not in your teens/early 20's at the time, or if you were listening to the demo cut of the song, it is hard to appreciate how important that song was and how much it meant to people.

[Strat]

oh boy, a long winded KD post! Im in. Let me pour another glass of wine though. BRB!

[coptheriotact]

In the moonlight, one of my most played PJ tracks.. along with the demo !

[Strat]

I kid, KD

I love in the moonlight. The groove man. The Groove.

[PHATJ]

I love that KD feels so strongly about In the Moonlight. His posts are always interesting and extremely well articulated. And it is a really cool song. No doubt about that. But it’s not Peal Jam’s definitive song, or really even one of the first many several that could be called that.

[tragabigzanda]

The only other song that may define Pearl Jam more than In the Moonlight

Sorry but no not even remotely

[wease]

How can ITM be the embodiment of Binaural when it was cut from the album?

[tragabigzanda]

How can ITM be the embodiment of Binaural when it was cut from the album?

And when it sounds like virtually nothing else in their catalog

[Higgs]

Wait...what?

[Norah]

lol

[Anders]

In The Moonlight gets this vote.

[Jorge]

What makes In the Moonlight so powerful is that the betrayal comes from the most intimate and fundamental of sources, birds.

Very true